


Making Amends

by InkDomain



Category: Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
Genre: Cults, Demonic Possession, Depressing, Minor Violence, Multi, Polyamory, Songfic, Trans Character, Unhappy Ending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-06
Updated: 2017-12-06
Packaged: 2019-02-11 11:03:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12933879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkDomain/pseuds/InkDomain
Summary: Mary and Robert are forced to act when they find Joseph has taken the newest neighbour for his own needs in the underground cavern. They want to save the man from the demon that possesses him, but their ultimate goal is to stop it from hurting anyone else.





	Making Amends

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on my deviantART (OperationStabTheCake).  
> Not proofread.  
> Dream Daddy belongs to Game Grumps.  
> Based upon 'In the Water' by Anadel.  
> 

A deep sense of dread had set itself into Mary’s bones when she was in the kitchen of her home, the window above the sink overlooking the back yard as her children played with Craig’s. Her hand paused wrapped around one of her favourite wine glasses, the soft clink of her gold wedding band against the crystal caused her to look down at her soap-covered hands. Something was wrong, something was very wrong indeed. She hadn’t seen nor heard from Joseph in a while now, when he should usually texts her several times just so she doesn’t worry. She drops the wine glass back into the sink of warm soapy water, drying her hands on a tea towel that is covered in sailing terms, making sure to pick up a knife, and she walks through the halls towards the door that is hidden with magic.  
It was simple magic that hid it, forcing anyone who wasn’t looking for it to never see it. A trick she had picked up from years ago, when her husband was afflicted with his…disease…She pulls a key from a second necklace hidden under her brown turtle neck, slipping it into the lock and going inside. It was cold, not just to her skin but to her bones- the dread increasing when she heard voices. Her slightly trembling hand holds onto the handle of the knife as she silently walks closer to the voices, the first is undeniably Joseph’s, but the second one wasn’t Robert’s- the only other person who knew about the Underground. She pulls out her phone and texts her brother in arms, then waits in the darkness as she listens to her husband’s demented words. 

Once he was out of earshot, and Mary got a full understanding of the whole ordeal, she waited as long as she possibly could before she moves in the darkness like a ghost until she is behind the second person in the Underground. In the flickering of flames from the mounted torches on the stone walls she could see it was their newest neighbour, and in her mind she curses her husband’s choice of meals. From behind him in his shackled state, she wraps a delicate but firm hand around his mouth to silence any shocked outburst.  
“Don’t say anything. Hell, don’t even think anything.” Her voice demands, her slightly cold hand still pressed to the new neighbour’s mouth as she utters those words of warning into his ear.  
Sensing that he doesn’t recognise her voice, she lets go of his mouth.  
“It’s okay, it’s me.” She says. She steps in front of him, wanting to calm the obviously terrified shackled man but she had no time to explain the whole story.  
“I’m gonna get you out of here.” Mary tells him, determination in her eyes as the knife in her hand glints in the flicking flames of the torches. She hikes up her skirt slightly to kneel easier, nimble fingers working at the ropes tied around his ankles.  
“I gotta be honest, I didn’t like you at first.” Mary comments to the lightly trembling dad that’s watching her free him from this crazy scenario.  
“I guess I did try to break up your marr-” He starts, deeper voice slightly echoing off the old stone walls of the Underground. Mary quickly cuts him off, with her words and a harsh look of warning.  
“Shh! Shut up for once.” She pauses, looking around to check if her husband heard anything before going back to the task at hand. “Look,” She continues. “Truth is I feel sorry for you. I feel sorry for the both of us. I don’t think you’re a bad person, despite what you might think of me. I don’t want it to end like this. Not again.”  
Mary notices he raises her eyebrows at her and her words, she doesn’t even have to look up to know he’s shocked.  
“Come on. Who do you think lived in that house before you?” Mary asks, her eyes dark and hiding secrets that have taken their toll on her. She stops him before he can think about all the awful things she’s witnessed, all the damage she’s covered up for the sake of Joseph and her children. “Don’t think about it. Not right now.”  
With a little extra help from her sharpened blade, she slices through the rope that refuses to budge thanks to Joseph’s handiwork with rope tying on his yacht. She hears noises and her head snaps up, knowing they have to move now. Mary rarely shows her true emotions, but the look on her face tells the dad in front of her that he needs to be afraid of the thing that wears her husband’s skin.  
“He’s coming. Run, kid.” Mary disappears back into the shadows before she’s seen, watching as he runs into the winding pathways of the Underground. She has no doubt he’ll make it out, each house of the cul-de-sac has a door hidden by magic which leads down here.

_You hold your every breath_  
_But life is for the living, in the water_  
_You feel that you should run_  
_But where are you to hide, in the water?_

Mary stays in the dark until she sees Joseph emerge into the main cavern of the Underground, where the symbol of a circle with six lines going outwards and a cross in the middle is etched into the wall. It was meant to keep him trapped, keep the demon inside of him at bay, but it seemed it wasn’t doing its job any more. Mary spots his blonde hair first, it’s still tidy and kept like it usually is, but his usual pink polo and powder blue jumper is gone- replaced with his black priest robes he wears for feeding. She watches him stop when he sees the remains of his meal, just a pile of sliced ropes on the stone slabbed floor, and her hands unconsciously tighten around the handle of the knife from her kitchen.  
“Hmm…” Mary recoils herself further into the darkness, hoping that Robert will get here soon since there was no way she would be able to take on Joseph alone. His noise of acknowledgement makes her insides coil like a pit of snakes, and his head raises as his once ocean blue eyes and begins to scan the room.  
“Dear, oh dear, someone took my meal.” His voice is soft and strong, taunting in the worst ways possible. “I wonder which one took it.” He muses, he turns on the spot until he stares at the darkness where Mary is concealed. She’s shaking now, the blade quivering in her grasp as Joseph’s eyes burn into the shadows. The smile on his face grows bigger, carving itself into his cheeks and showing slightly sharpened white teeth to her. “Hello, honey.” 

She knows her game is up, so she steps out of the shadows, it no longer protects her from his gaze. His head slightly cocks to the side when he spots the knife clasped in her hands, his eyes flicking up to her face and he seems unmoved- he knows she won’t do anything to hurt the body the demon is using. He straightens his head, his larger hands making a sweeping motion to the ropes on the floor and the lack of a father in them.  
“Why did you let my meal go, sweetheart?” He asks, and it’s a convincing act. She almost forgets that it’s not her husband talking to her, just the manifestation of sin blackening his memory.  
“I can’t let you kill another of our neighbours, Joseph.” Mary is slightly surprised at how steady her voice is when she addresses the demon in this form, it’s easier to be her bitchy self when they’re in the prying eyes of the neighbourhood. “He’s a good man, you’ve played with him enough.” She says, causing Joseph to chuckle lowly, his shoulders bouncing up and down with his laughter.  
“Oh, Mary my dear, I haven’t been properly fed in decades.” His voice is smooth as butter, charming in its entirety, but the hints of blood red in his eyes keeps her on edge. He moves forward, stepping closer to his wife, but she keeps the knife firmly wedged between them.  
“We feed you every week, if you eat that much you’ll get too powerful.” Mary reminds him, but she knows he didn’t forget. She was foolish to think that she and Robert could trust him not to take another life to feed himself and their children, she bitterly reminds herself that he is not a bad child in need of a lesson, but a demon who craves freedom and power.  
“It’s not enough, Mary. You and Robert both know that.” Joseph says, and Mary feels her phone vibrate against her hip from its place trapped against her body with the waistband of her skirt. She knows it’s Robert, and she knows he’ll be here soon, but she can’t afford to let her guard down. “If you won’t give me what I want, then I’ll be forced to take it.” Joseph’s voice drops and Mary hears a hint of the demon inside, his eyes are now consumed by the red of hunger as he lunges at her. She lets out a scared scream at the sudden pounce, attempting to dodge out of the outstretched arms of her husband. In the distance, she can hear the thudding of boots running closer in their direction. Robert is almost here, he can help her, but Mary starts to panic when she feels strong fingers thread through her hair and pull. 

Mary’s vision blurs with tears as white-hot pain sears from her scalp in the area where her hair is pulled with force, a strained cry ripping from her throat as the sounds of running increases their pace. Mary struggles as Joseph pulls her back, his chest pressed to her upper back as his free arm wraps around her waist and grips her wrist. He squeezes until she lets go of the knife, the steel clatters loudly against the stone when it hits the floor and he keeps her in his arms as Robert finally emerges.  
“Mary!” Robert calls her name and she nods bravely, letting him know that she’s okay and Joseph hasn’t hurt her too bad. Robert sets his jaw, grinding his teeth as his eyes sets on the other man housing a demon. “What’s going on, Joseph? I got Mary’s text, she said you took the new kid.” He says, voice gruff as he quickly analyses the scene to gather the story without words.  
“I’m hungry, Robert, and bits of your blood or pouches of animal blood isn’t doing it for me anymore.” Joseph tells him, turning his head and bury his nose in his wife’s soft hair and inhaling. “She smells so sweet, so much better than the other one.” He tells Robert, pressing a small kiss to her head as she squirms in his grasp.  
“You know we can’t do that, Joseph.” Robert warns, putting up his hands to show he isn’t armed as he approaches slowly. Mary flicks her eyes down to the dropped knife, it was made with blessed silver, it’s enough to pull some of his strength and health from him. “You’re getting too powerful as it is, if we let you have the newbie? That’s just asking for disaster.” Robert continues, getting closer and closer- his goal was the knife, not Mary.  
“Mmm, that sounds like fun, doesn’t that sound like fun to you, Rob?” Joseph asks, growling a little as a warning when Robert gets too close. It’s now or never, he has to grab the knife before Joseph uses Mary as leverage and finally takes out Robert. Mary had her role, she had to nurture and protect his hellspawn, but Robert was just a guard that kept him down. Robert’s and Joseph’s eyes lock for a split second before Robert moves, as fast as he can he scoops down to pick up the knife and at the exact same time Joseph shoves Mary at him. She yells as she’s suddenly pushed, her balance thrown off as she smacks into Robert. The knife drops from Robert’s hands the second he grabs it, he catches Mary and rolls her to the side safely before scrabbling for the weapon. 

Joseph moves fast, his superhuman speed outmatching Robert’s as he kicks the knife across the stone floor. It clatters loudly, making Mary wince as she gasps for air that was knocked out of her lungs for her being tossed at another human so carelessly. Joseph attacks Robert harshly, his weight shoving the rugged man back and a sickening smack rings out as the back of Robert’s head hits the floor. He groans, sluggishly moving to push Joseph off of him but the man on top straddles his stomach and wraps his hands around the tanner man’s throat. Immediately, his grasp tightens as he blocks Robert’s airways and he begins to struggle. Joseph is sneering now, his lips peeled back to show sharp, fang-like teeth ready to devour his meal as he ducks his head lower. Robert wasn’t going to last much longer, the blow to the head and the prevention of air to his lungs was causing the edges of his vision to blur and turn black. His nails scratch at Joseph’s pale hands, blood is drawn from the torn skin and abruptly, the pressure on his neck is gone.  
Robert turns to his side, spluttering as a sudden rush of air is allowed to his lungs and the burning of his abused neck sets in. Through the tears dotted at the corners of his dark eyes, he sees Joseph is unmoving next to him and Mary standing above him. She moves to check on him, and Robert notices the blade is stained with blood. When Robert is stable enough to sit up, he sees that Mary had stabbed Joseph in the back, the leaking blood was staining his robes even darker around his wound. He was unmoving, the silver sapping his energy as he shakes slightly.  
“We’ll tie him up, then go to the hospital.” Mary mutters, her breath as ragged as Roberts as she focuses on restraining her husband and then helping her best friend to his feet. She had no time to dwell on the fact that she had stabbed her husband, Robert needed her right now. 

The stay at the hospital is brief, the staff there were used to Robert being in there with even weirder injuries, so he told them a well-known story of him hunting cryptids in the woods. They believed him, it was where he usually got hurt, and they looked him over before patching him up. It took hours before they were discharged, he was strictly instructed to stay away from intoxication until his head injuries were in the clear, so he was stuck to drinking coke. Unable to be near her three older children, Mary settled for helping Robert to his messy home and staying for a while. One quick call to Damien and he was looking after the four Christiansen children, he was used to their antics and had no problem watching them until Mary made it back home.  
The two sit on Robert’s soft couch, Betsy sleeping in her bed blissfully unaware of what happened a few hours ago, whilst Mary nursed a glass of wine and Robert stuck to coke.  
“It’s gone too far, Rob.” Mary broke the silence, her gaze settled on the wine in her glass as she slightly swirled it. She couldn’t help but be reminded of her husband’s blood, staining the knife and his robe from when she stabbed him.  
“What do you suggest we do?” Robert inquires, they’ve had this conversation countless times over the decades they had been stuck with this situation and it had always ended fruitless.  
“Shit, I don’t know, maybe if we just end-”  
“You mean kill him.” Robert finishes, anger pure in his eyes as he stares at his best and only friend in the world. She glares at him, the taste of wine fresh on her tongue as she blocks and holds down the memories of the atrocities that Joseph has committed thanks to the possession.  
“He’s getting stronger, Robert.” Mary snaps, never admitting that her own heart ached at the suggestion of murdering her husband. He was innocent in this, that thing was just using him.  
“We’ll deal with it, like we always have. Fucking hell, Mary, I can’t…we can’t lose him.” He says, the sentence dropping off with a sigh of defeat as he looks down at the small class of non-alcoholic coke.  
“I know, I don’t want to lose him either, but we haven’t had him in years.” Mary reminds him, her grip on the glass tight enough to turn her knuckles white as the argument continues.  
“So fuckin’ what?” Robert asks, getting to his feet as he paces slightly. Betsy raises her small head, slightly cocks it, and whimpers slightly in a way that asks if he’s okay. “We just end it? He’s still in there, Mary, I know he is!” Robert’s tone rises until he’s shouting, consumed by rage at the thought of losing Joseph to this thing.  
“I know that too!” Mary returns the yells, knocking back her head along with the rest of the wine before slamming the glass onto the coffee table. Betsy whimpers once more, quickly trotting upstairs as if to get away from the loud noises of her owner yelling and being upset. “I don’t want to fucking kill my husband but that isn’t Joseph anymore! Jesus, Robert, he almost killed someone tonight!”  
“I know! Shit, Mary, I know!” Robert yells back at her, turning so they’re face to face and both of their chests are rising and falling with fury. Robert backs down after furiously searching her eyes for answers that neither of them have, running a calloused hand through messy greying hair to cool himself down. “We’ll find something. We can still save him. I know it.” Robert stubbornly states, and Mary gives up the losing fight of trying to change his set mind. She simply nods, places a hand on his shoulder before slightly squeezing- a silent apology. He nods his head, a returned silent apology, before Mary leaves him alone in the house. 

Mary returns home and finds Damien has successfully put her children to sleep, she quietly thanks him and he tells her it isn’t a problem, and wishes her a good night before returning to his own home next door to Robert. Before retiring to bed, Mary slips into Joseph’s study which was off-limits to everyone who didn’t have a death wish. When she steps inside, she has to hold her stomach to stop the nauseated feeling spilling over. It was like stepping into another dimension, and the feeling of being unwelcome wrapped around her and suffocated her like ink. She pushes through it, hoping to find anything that would indicate to why Joseph was getting more and more powerful- and why he decided now was a good time to try and make a meal out of the newest neighbour after a few years of his last victim.  
She rummages through what she can tolerate to touch, everything had a heavy stain of evil upon it and she just wanted to get out. She goes to Joseph’s desk and flicks through endless pages of scribbles, some in English, some in different languages and she even makes notes of one page absolutely covered in Latin. Mary’s heart is palpitating by this point, and with her left hand she holds onto the golden cross on her chest and doesn’t let go. Mary’s eye is caught by a small dark blue book, and she flicks it open. The first page is dates, and the date for today was highlighted as important. She feels like she found that jackpot, this was what was relevant to her search right now. She takes the book and leaves the study, locking the door behind her and rushing up to her room. With her hand still wrapped around the cross of her necklace, sitting on her double bed that had been empty since Joseph was possessed, she looks through the book. Her brows furrow in confusion as page after page is desecrated with one word: Acathla. In the back of the book, she finds notes other than Acathla; Lucius Temple being one of them, and beside it a list of museums. More than confused, Mary shuts the book and hides it in her bedside table to bring to Robert tomorrow.


End file.
